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Which SEAT Leon should you drive on 24,000 miles a year – petrol or diesel?

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18 February 2014

SEAT_Leon_1.6_TDI_SE
Turns out that the diesel is convincingly cheaper to run, at least for a relatively high mileage driver. And while it doesn’t quite match the coupe’s fun factor, it’s no slouch to drive

So what about numbers?

We can discount factors like company car tax, contract hire rates and insurance – they’re within a few pounds of each other for both cars. 

The 1.6 TDI SE is about £1000 more expensive than the coupe – diesels are inherently more expensive, plus there’s the extra 2 doors. (The SEAT Leon SC is actually £300 cheaper than the corresponding petrol saloon – quite unusual since coupe cache normally costs cash.)  

So in terms of day to day running costs it comes down to fuel economy. Here’s how it worked out:

  Average mpg Best mpg Fuel cost/1000 miles*

Fuel cost for 24,000 miles*

SEAT Leon SC 1.4 TSI SE 140PS  42.6mpg 47mpg £139.92 £3358
SEAT Leon 1.6 TDI SE 105PS 52.3mpg 64mpg £120.05 £2881

* Assumes petrol at £1.31/litre and diesel at £1.38/litre

In fact, a substantial £477 more to drive 24,000 miles in the 1.4 petrol powered coupe than in the 1.6 diesel. 

Would I do it anyway? If my mileage was more like 12,000 miles a year, probably. But given that the diesel Leon is itself a fun car to drive it’s hard to justify another £500 a year.

With your sensible business car driver’s hat on, let alone if you were running a few of them as part of a small fleet, you’d have to stick with diesel for high milers.

 

 

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Matt Morton

Matt Morton

Matt Morton is an automotive content writer for Business Car Manager

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